AK-47

david1701

david1701

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Hi all,

This came up on digg today clicky it's a wired news article about how pervasive the ak is as a weapon, and some of the pictures are really inspiring - they make me want to dump all I'm doing and go into photojournalism - to get out and do the pictures of the next big thing.

Might just be me, but I thought I'd share ;)

Regards,
David
 
Thanks for posting that link, David. There are some really fantastic photos of desperately sad situations there.
 
I think it would be really interesting to hear other photographer's responses to the images, as they're a bit different to the usual comments and crit images - seem to have more of a purpose than to be pictures.
 
They are very interesting photo's indeed, alot of them hit home how cheap and available weapons of death are, and to see the Ak's inventor holding it so proudly, makes me wonder how he sleeps at night
 
Stev said:
and to see the Ak's inventor holding it so proudly, makes me wonder how he sleeps at night
Click to expand...

well he kinda made it to save his people from some less than pleasant nazi's and it is an engineering feat - reliability and ruggedness vs cost and difficulty of manufacture it's unbelievable
 
...and not even slightly based on the German MP-44 designed by Mauser-Waffenfabrik AG...despite a certain Captain Kala*hnik*v being attached to the Red Army Engineering Bureau assigned to strip useful technology from the Occupied territories in 1945-48...lol
 
Arkady said:
...and not even slightly based on the German MP-44 designed by Mauser-Waffenfabrik AG...despite a certain Captain Kala*hnik*v being attached to the Red Army Engineering Bureau assigned to strip useful technology from the Occupied territories in 1945-48...lol
Click to expand...

You left out the bit about the MP designation. ;)
 
ah yes...das Fuhrer wasn't keen on Assualt Rifles as a concept so it was kept from him by calling them Maschinen-Pistole...or sub-machine gun...lol
 
Hey the MP-44 is great tech too (see call of duty games), but I was kinda hoping to see what people thought of the pictures :D
 
Sorry...some good ones there, but since I have so MANY great ones of my own...*smarm-smarm*
 
Arkady said:
...and not even slightly based on the German MP-44 designed by Mauser-Waffenfabrik AG...
Click to expand...

You are correct, not even slightly similar, other than maybe as a silouhette.

If you want to know what it is similar to, he "stole" concepts from all of the other competing Soviet designs for an "assault rifle". Although perhaps "stole" is not the word the Soviets would have used for the People's skills being shared for the greater good of the Motherland!

And no, the MP44 was not even the first to come up with the idea of an automatic battle rifle chambered for an intermediate round, that honour probably goes to the Federov Automat when it was rechambered for the Japanese 6,5x50SR Arisaka round in 1915 :D
 
I bet you two sleep with guns under your pillows don't you!

Interesting reading though!
 
desantnik said:
You are correct, not even slightly similar, other than maybe as a silouhette.

If you want to know what it is similar to, he "stole" concepts from all of the other competing Soviet designs for an "assault rifle". Although perhaps "stole" is not the word the Soviets would have used for the People's skills being shared for the greater good of the Motherland!

And no, the MP44 was not even the first to come up with the idea of an automatic battle rifle chambered for an intermediate round, that honour probably goes to the Federov Automat when it was rechambered for the Japanese 6,5x50SR Arisaka round in 1915 :D
Click to expand...

If you strip an AK and an MP44, the similarities are remarkable even down to the gas-piston...to say he wasn't influenced by it is an insult to the German designers...
 
The MP44 uses a lot of concepts from the earlier Soviet SVT40, including the wedge lock bolt design, whereas the AK47 uses a rotating bolt similar to the US M1 Garand. Kalashnikov's previous (rejected) design was heavily based on the Garand, so he knew a lot about that concept :D

Of course, no weapon system is developed in isolation and each iteration of design will aquire the best perceived elements of previous designs.

However it is not true that the AK is a clone of the MP44.

The real key to the "global success" of the AK is its ability to work without any kind of love and care, I'm not sure this is true of the MP44...
 
desantnik said:
The real key to the "global success" of the AK is its ability to work without any kind of love and care
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That is the result of brilliant engineering, to get a weapon with acceptable characteristics like accuracy/rate of fire/weight that is so easy to produce and maintain in almost any conditions - compare it to the first M16s tbh I would be proud of it if I had designed it, nt of what it had done but simply of it.

And dude they call it evolution of concept, having a similar breach block doesn't make something a clone that'd be like saying every rifled weapon was cloned from those turkish artillery pieces.......
 
desantnik said:
The MP44 uses a lot of concepts from the earlier Soviet SVT40, including the wedge lock bolt design, whereas the AK47 uses a rotating bolt similar to the US M1 Garand. Kalashnikov's previous (rejected) design was heavily based on the Garand, so he knew a lot about that concept :D

Of course, no weapon system is developed in isolation and each iteration of design will aquire the best perceived elements of previous designs.

However it is not true that the AK is a clone of the MP44.

The real key to the "global success" of the AK is its ability to work without any kind of love and care, I'm not sure this is true of the MP44...
Click to expand...

Very true although it was a lot more user-friendly than either the MP40 or K-98...
Some of the AKs I've seen around the globe were in a truly horrific state of repair, including the ones issued to the 'new' Iraqi Army last year - from old stocks buried in the desert by the look of it...some of them looked truly damgerous - to the firer!!!

Prior to Operation Charge of the Knights in Basrah early last year, the poor lads sent down from up north had been stripped of their brand-new M-16A4s and re-issued with ancient AKs - to say they were 'underwhelmed' would be an understatement...oh and most of them only had two cartridges per weapon...lol
 
david1701 said:
That is the result of brilliant engineering, to get a weapon with acceptable characteristics like accuracy/rate of fire/weight that is so easy to produce and maintain in almost any conditions - compare it to the first M16s tbh I would be proud of it if I had designed it, nt of what it had done but simply of it.

And dude they call it evolution of concept, having a similar breach block doesn't make something a clone that'd be like saying every rifled weapon was cloned from those turkish artillery pieces.......
Click to expand...

I didn't say 'clone'...read it again...and I'm not a 'dude'...
 
Arkady said:
Some of the AKs I've seen around the globe were in a truly horrific state of repair, including the ones issued to the 'new' Iraqi Army last year - from old stocks buried in the desert by the look of it...some of them looked truly damgerous - to the firer!!!
Click to expand...

But thats the reason why such people can use a modern weapon system - because it will survive such abuse - try that with a M16 or SA80 :thumbs:

Mind you, a little while ago when Israel was knocking heads with Lebanon I saw some militia there armed with MP44's... surprising in its own right, without trying to imagine where they were finding the special ammo for them!

There was a lovely quote a little while back from a ANA soldier who was being trained to use his new American issued M16... "but its plastic, it will break" :bonk:
 
Sure but there comes a point where neglect gets too much even for an AK...

These were trained soldiers, not jundies out in Sierra Leone and these AKs were truly in a shocking state - broken stocks, no fore-grips, rusty clag in the bores...oh and no cleaning-kits, so even if they did feel like cleaning them, they couldn't...we tried to help the ones living with us as much as we could but in the end the Sgt Maj took the worst ones back over to thier Brigade HQ and dumped them on the commander's desk and challenged him that if he could fire any of them he'd re-issue them to the men.
We got new weapons, surprise - all wrapped in grease, factory-fresh - i.e. the ones they were supposed to get from the start.
We're training them to be a modern, efficient and well-motivated force and then some idiot decides that "Nothing's too good for my men, so I'll give them nothing!"
 
Oh there is nothing like getting your hands on a still greased up factory fresh Kalashnikov.... ahhh the joy :D

Don't suppose you noticed which particular variant they had? You can't beat a nice Izmash one, except maybe unless its a MPiK - Kalashnikov design meets German engineering :D I've seen plenty of MPiK's with Iraqis, think they got them from the Greeks who bought a lot of the DDR's arsenal.
 
These were Yugoslav ones - I recognised them from my time in Bosnia...

The Iraqi SF had the Gucci plastic-stock ones...
 
Zastava's eh... the M70 using the original M43 (7.62x39) round or one of the later ones chambered for NATO rounds? Never been keen on the Yugo stuff myself.

The plastic stocked rifles will be the MPiK - brown plastic stocks and grips.
 
7.62x39 - all the 'older' kit was chambered for those - some of the ammo was going a bit rusty as well - the grey anodising was wearing off...lol

Plus a few Czech CZ-75's...about 20 years old and a bit rattley...
 
Oh my, VZ-75's! Mind you, you can never knock Czech arms production - they know a thing or two and have for quite a long time!
 
desantnik said:
Oh my, VZ-75's! Mind you, you can never knock Czech arms production - they know a thing or two and have for quite a long time!
Click to expand...

yes...just ask any German!!!
Skoda arms factory? That'll do nicely thanks very much...next country please...!
 
"the ak47. the preferred weapon of your enemies, makes a very distinctive sound when fired"
Clint Eastwood, heartbreak ridge.
still remember that.
about as common around the world , as toothbrushes in the uk.
didnt several wars get won because ak's worked, and the oppositions didnt?
 
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